


cursed are these shores for hearts

by byeolbit



Series: these deep blue waters [3]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Angst, M/M, mentions of Taekwoon, this is the product of a fever brain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 22:32:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16376243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/byeolbit/pseuds/byeolbit
Summary: Jaehwan tells Sanghyuk about the cursed world their ancestors travelled to, only to never return home.





	cursed are these shores for hearts

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by this art I came across on tumblr - http://littleinfinitybooklist.tumblr.com/post/179170193682/tomato-bird-firmament-by-taylor-leong-2016-a

Jaehwan closes his eyes and listens to the sounds from the world beyond the surface. The muffled noise is white static. There are no signs of bad weather and this journey is safe to take.

“You still haven’t told me where we are going” Sanghyuk says, swimming in circles around him. His jellyfish like tail glows fluorescent blue when he is excited and right now it is giving away his feelings unlike his bored tone.

“To visit a friend” Jaehwan replies. 

“Which friend?” Sanghyuk asks, swimming up close to the sea witch. “Firstly, you have none. Second even if they did, you are a deep water merman. You wouldn’t survive in these shallow reef waters long enough ‘to make friends’.“

“Always the tone of suspicion” Jaehwan says, swimming under the other merman. Sanghyuk isn’t wrong but the apprentice doesn’t have to know everything.

“You said that a witch must always be conscious of their environment and have all facts before acting on the situation” Sanghyuk quips.

“You only remember important lessons when it comes to showing someone up, isn’t it? Where was this wisdom when you charged the wrong gemstones in the full moon night?” Jaehwan asks, whacking Sanghyuk with his tail. His dark green scaly tail is built for strength to withstand the great water pressure and he takes full advantage of it.

Sanghyuk frowns but dutifully follows across his mentor in and out of the school of fish, following the current to warmer waters where more plankton and algae bloom.

“It is getting warmer here” Sanghyuk notes, as they approach shallow waters. 

There is vibrant and colourful reef here. A school of triplefins, swim in and out, dispersing on sudden moment of kelp for the fear of a predator. There is algal bloom on the surface of water and weird plastic things float around, sinking to the ocean bed whenever they chance across an opening in the plants.

Jaehwan stops for a moment to consider the lone seahorse resting against the red coral reef before moving on. As they swim further, the ocean bed rises and wires and nets start to appear. This is human territory.

“We shouldn’t be here” Sanghyuk says, panicking a little. He may be a brat to Jaehwan but he isn’t a moron. He’s heard the stories. They can’t go to land. It’s cursed for the merfolk.

“We’ll be fine” Jaehwan assures him, leading him straight onto the island. It’s at the last minute that he swerves to the direction of the moon. A clear mistake, Sanghyuk thinks as the navigate through jagged rocks and strong waves that lash against them. 

Jaehwan pulls him into an underwater cave, feeling grateful they made it before the sun has completely set. The red and golden hues illuminate the passage of water inside. Jaehwan finds an opening that opens up into a small pool, just deep enough for the fish to swim in. It feels a little too crowded for two mermen so he hoists himself up on the rock, gasping as his gills adjust to the warm humid air. Sanghyuk shudders for the normally musical voice sounds so shrill and… painful.

_Cursed_ , he mutters to himself.

“Now we wait” Jaehwan says. He pulls out a small jade vial from the bag he has been carrying with him. It’s small enough to be hidden behind his tail and Sanghyuk often forgets it is even there. The jade is one of the stronger materials merfolk have, immune to potion effects for long durations of time.

He does listen to his lessons, no thank you Master Jaehwan. He resorts to reciting all ten uses of red algae for medicinal purposes as he swims around in circles, trying to distract himself. 

“What has you on edge?” Jaehwan asks, slipping back into the water. 

“How are you so calm, closed to this cursed place?” Sanghyuk asks back.

“I have been here before, we have nothing to fear” Jaehwan tells him.

“The land is cursed. It is guaranteed death for the merfolk” Sanghyuk argues. Jaehwan gives him a look and he shuts up, yet his senses feel frayed and on edge. It just isn’t right.

“Do you know of why they call the land and its folk cursed?” Jaehwan asks.

“Because there is no water up there. Miles and miles of dry arid mud with no water and no way for the merfolk to breathe. The land was cursed and meant to be the home of the dead” Sanghyuk tells him. It was a children’s tale that every merchild was told. 

“No one went to the land of the dead and returned. They were lost to the seas forever. Which is why you can’t be here” he insists. The apprentice takes his master’s hand, pleading caution and concern as he swims out the water passage and onto the open seas, still surrounded by the jagged rocks.

“You can never go there. What will… what will I do without you here?” Sanghyuk asks quietly.

“You have nothing new to learn as my apprentice” Jaehwan says, dismissing that comment.

“Not just as my teacher… but as my friend, maybe even more” Sanghyuk confesses. Jaehwan supposes that the moonlight makes this a romantic affair but this matter of heart is a complicated discussion.

“In the early days” Jaehwan begins. Sanghyuk shrinks back, recognizing that his confession has been saved for discussion later. Jaehwan is using his teaching tone and wishes to remind Sanghyuk of the impropriety of the situation and also to reject him indirectly. 

He isn’t the type to force his feelings on other. Come high tide when Jaehwan is back home safe, he will gather his things and leave.

“In the early days, the land and the sea folk were one. There were no divisions among the families and we shared the seas that we roam in.”

Sanghyuk nods. They dive in lest the bright moonlight give them away to humans on nearby shores. The waters are dark and murky and they can’t stray when they don’t have clear visibility on their surroundings.

“Despite the wealth and abundance of these waters, there were those who were greedy. Those who wanted more. The seas always nurtured us, without excesses. The universe’ balance you see? But they were greedy and they wished to seek land and keep the treasures they found.”

“What treasures did they hope to find?”

“Who can tell? It was many high tides ago. Perhaps it was immortality. They said the lands held unlimited knowledge and knowledge would be the power for the future to come. These are stories passed over many years Sanghyuk, with many details lost. Yet there wish was granted and they were spit out onto land like the bodies of the dead.”

“But they couldn’t have survived on land in that form. There is no water there” Sanghyuk argues. 

“There bodies were changed. They became the land folk we know of today. They never found immortality or unlimited knowledge. They were only doomed to live apart from their kin forever. The waves became ruthless to them, their own birth land turning into something that would kill them. A taunt, as if to remind them that they could never return to waters that they had been ungrateful for.”

“It’s a terrible story to tell children” Sanghyuk summarizes after a long moment of silence. There is seagrass on the bed here, Sanghyuk discovers as his tails brush against tips of the plants floating in direction of the current.

“Isn’t it? But it’s worth thinking about. The land folk and the sea folk were once kin. Perhaps that explains a lot more than we would have thought of” Jaehwan says thoughtfully,

“You always speak in circles master” Sanghyuk huffs, when Jaehwan intentionally circles him before surfacing and coming back down.

“Perhaps it explains why an ill fated red tailed merman fell in love with a man of the sands and the universe allowed it to happen. They aren’t very different from us after all” Jaehwan reasons.

“Come now Master. I believe I’ve had too many stories for one night” Sanghyuk laughs.

“Let me humour you with one more” Jaehwan says. He doesn’t wait for an answer, as usual before launching into the tale.

“There was a merman of the shallow seas. Protector of the innocent and carer of the weak. One day, chasing an injured dolphin to heal and return to his family, he wandered close to human territory. The man of the sands, took pity on him and helped him, allowing both of the creatures to return to the ocean. Except he left his heart behind” he reminisced.

“Discovery by land folk is a crime” Sanghyuk adds solemnly.

“Is it a crime if proof of the act is never discovered?” Jaehwan asks, grinning cheekily.

“So what did the merman do?” Sanghyuk asks, curious to the direction of this impossible yarn being spun.

“Made the same wish the ancestors did and followed his heart to land.”

“And so was lost to his brethren here.” 

“Or so I thought. He returned a few moons later, his body unable to keep up and him on the brink of death. My potion hadn’t worked out you see.”

“What are you implying Master?” Sanghyuk asked, his eyes wide at the revelation. This was a tall claim. An impossible claim. Even the idea of a failure was incredulous, much less success.

“That aragonite is not as useful for longevity as peridotite is when combined with pearls. It took me years to find a solution. You must remember this should I ever be missing and you have to brew the potion that sustains Taekwoon’s life on land.”

Sanghyuk staggers and the fish lying in the sea grass scatter immediately. The waves wash against the shore but Sanghyuk’s heart pounds louder. 

He remembers Taekwoon. The shy mermaid with the most brilliant and beautiful red tail that had been born in many high tides. He always spent time with the fish, preferring their company to those of the other merfolk. An odd merman but perhaps the kindest soul Sanghyuk had ever known. A dreamer who liked to wander far in his adventures. Once he learnt of Sanghyuk’s interest in gemstones, he would bring back ever rare stone he could find. Or so he thought, since were most were colourful silica molded from magma residue.It had always been endearing to watch him smile whenever Sanghyuk would thank him.

“You condemned our kin to this hell” he says, shock and disgust in his tone.

“I was no one to stand in the way of true love” Jaehwan says solemnly.

“The vial… it was Taekwoon’s potion to let him continue living on land” Sanghyuk accuses. Jaehwan only nods.

“You cursed him to live a half life, forever dependent on your magic. He’s essentially dying and the only way to live is prolong his agony, isn’t it?” Sanghyuk yells. “You are a monster. For all your talk about the balance of universe and the fair use of magic, you were here trying to play god!”

“There is more to this story” Jaehwan murmurs. It’s a gentle voice that once lulled him to sleep. Now it sickens him to his core.

“There is nothing more I have to learn from you, you said so yourself” Sanghyuk growls. The two merman drift till Jaehwan moves first and Sanghyuk retreats. He swims through the murky sea grass without any prior warning to Jaehwan and disappears into the ocean, speeding through the waves.

But like the very first merman to come to these shores in millenia, he leaves his heart behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Come cry with me on my [Twitter](https://twitter.com/poojamk15?s=09) or my [Tumblr](https://vixxscifiwritings.tumblr.com)


End file.
